Best Technical Analysis Software Tools and Platforms

Trade Ideas is a comprehensive trading toolbox that offers day traders the best tools for conducting technical analysis. It has up to 200 alerts and filters comprising social, non-structured data sets and technical analysis. You can work with the provided inbuilt indicators or build custom ones to endlessly update real-time alerts and watchlists.

Charting is the cornerstone for technical analysis, and Trade Ideas has all charting capabilities to help you carry out efficient technical analysis. There are multiple charts to choose from: advanced tick charts, candlestick charts, and price charts. The charts can be visualized across different timeframes, starting from 1 minute to monthly.

If new to the platform, you can use the pre-built patterns and indicators. As you slowly get accustomed, you can modify them to align with your trading strategy. Trade Ideas leverages technology to make research better by using their tailor-made trade assistant, "AI Holly." These AI tools are great for performing automatic pattern recognition, and help recommend risk limits and entry/exit points.

Other notable features include direct trade execution through Brokerage Plus, powerful stock screeners, simulated trading, and backtesting. Trade Ideas has 2 plans; standard and premium costing from $84 to $167 monthly.

2. TradingView

TradingView is one of the world's most popular platforms for technical analysis. It boasts an innovative charting system that allows you to interpret data with ease. That's not all, it has a modern interface that loads quickly to enable you to navigate the features easily. 

There are up to 12 interactive charts that plot the performance of trades over time, their volume, and prices. You can either use the candlestick default charts or change them to have a customized search criterion.

TradingView software allows you to analyze data on most tradable assets like futures, stocks, or bonds while including current trends and historical data. Thus, it is a great option if you are interested in long-term investments. You can choose from the over 100 indicators and over 50 charting tools to filter your results.

There are efficient screeners to help you find the most tradable assets. You can use the various technical filters like a new all-time high, RSI, or weekly performance to narrow your search. Lastly, TradingView pricing ranges from $12.95 to $49.95 per month.

3. TradeStation

TradeStation is a robust trading platform that focuses on giving investors high-quality market data on futures, stocks, options, and ETFs. Its trading platform is fully customizable thus great for technical and active traders interested in automation capabilities, testing, sophisticated charting, or order entry.

If you are a non-programmer, you can use pre-built fundamental and technical indicators to build trading strategies. However, those knowledgeable in programming can create custom indicators and strategies.

TradeStation leans more on technical analysis, has excellent pattern recognition and market scanning tools. These tools include hotlists, RadarScreen for sorting predefined symbols, and various scanners. Others are excellent charting capabilities, portfolio analysis, and customizable news. 

The pricing structure of TradeStation is quite different from the usual monthly/yearly fees. You only subscribe to the type of data you need, e.g., penny stocks, futures, stock options, paper statements, etc. All the fees are typically calculated per contract.

4. TrendSpider

If you love technical analysis, TrendSpider is one of the best smart technical analysis platforms equipped with AI-assisted technical and automatic features. You can conduct comprehensive technical analysis using TrendSpider's extensive indicators, screeners, charting capabilities, and so on.

The efficient market scanner helps you to create dynamic watchlists for searching data across different time frames. You can either use the pre-built scanners or create your own. The scanners give you access to over 20 years of backtested data and real-time market data.

There are various automatic technical analysis tools for trendline detection, Fibonacci retracements, candlestick pattern detection, and dynamic price alerts. You can work with these automatic features or customize them to your liking. The multi-timeframe analysis feature is handy for evaluating data offered at different periods. 

The user-friendly interface allows you to find analysis tools and indicators quickly. Don't worry if you are a beginner; you can learn more about the TrendSpider platform through its YouTube channel, blog posts, or regular emails. The current monthly fees start from $48.50 to $198 per month.

5. TD Ameritrade

TD Ameritrade is an American-based brokerage platform for traders interested in investing and trading securities. It also offers high-tech trading platforms, investment products, and a wide range of financial markets. Moreover, TD Ameritrade boosts a flagship program, thinkorswim, which is a leading player in the sphere of technical analysis.

Thinkorswim comprises multiple technical indicators, drawing tools, real-time market data, third-party fundamental data, and educational tools. 

Beginner traders can utilize the pre-built analytical tools, while those with coding knowledge can customize the tools using the in-built thinkScript programming language. What's more, thinkorswim supports TD Ameritrade brokerage accounts for the direct buying and selling of securities like bonds, ETF, Forex, options, etc. 

Other features offered by TD Ameritrade include a screener, market heat maps, charting, news, cash management, and order types. The dedicated customer service comprising 24/7 telephone service, email, and live chat support makes the platform stand out. Lastly, the costs are calculated based on the services offered, e.g., sending a wire, paper statements, account transfers, or contacting a live broker.

6. Interactive Brokers

Interactive Brokers is not only a reliable brokerage platform, but it also has comprehensive research, cash management, and risk management tools. Short-term or long-term traders stand to gain largely from the Interactive Broker's rock-bottom pricing and powerful trading platforms.

With over 150 markets, Interactive Brokers has the most asset coverage in the industry, which includes stocks, fractional shares, options, futures, bonds, Forex, crypto, and mutual funds. It is price-conscious as it has two plans: IBKR Lite (for casual traders) and IBKR Pro (for professionals).

Though not beginner-friendly, the Interactive Broker's flagship platform, Trader Workstation (TWS), is one of the industry's best trading platforms. TWS offers paper trading, charting, trading journals, trade technical analysis, portfolio analysis, and backtesting of trade ideas. 

Although the learning curve for various Interactive Broker's tools is quite stiff, there is an education tab for this. It comprises well-organized video content, written material, and quizzes. In summary, Interactive Brokers gives traders access to global markets, and has top-leading commissions plus low-margin rates.

7. Fidelity Investments

Fidelity Investments is a popular US-based full-service brokerage platform offering various account options and investment services. The platform deals with various investment assets like bonds, options, ETFs, mutual funds, stocks, etc. Their educational and research tools are tailored to suit all investor levels.

Fidelity gives you a splendid user experience through its intuitive desktop navigation, mobile app, and downloadable software. There are over 45 market filters that include fundamental, technical, and sentiment selections. All the filters/tools are customizable to satisfy different trading interests.

That's not all; the platform also has comprehensive visual analytics, real-time data, and various trading tools for options, stock, and ETF traders. The screeners are classified into different asset classes: stock screener, ETF screener, options screener, or mutual fund screener for increased versatility. Finally, it is among the best low-cost broker firms and doesn't charge fees for several of its products or services.

8. Lightspeed

Lightspeed is a high-level platform that serves traders with interests in options, futures, and equities. It's, therefore, an excellent choice for high-volume traders and investors who can afford the minimum account deposits of $10,000 to $25,000. Other charges are billed per share, per options contract, or per trade on equities and can vary depending on trading volume or ability to meet monthly targets.

The company supports several trading platforms like its own Lightspeed trader, Sterling Trader, and Eze EMS. You can choose whichever trading platform to use based on your trading needs. Moreover, the platform is quite basic and easy to navigate, provides direct market access, and can be customized for convenient use.

The company's flagship program, Lightspeed Trader, comprises tools like watchlists, scanners, sales data, etc. There's also a dedicated section for drawing tools, technical indicators, time frames, and chart types. Other vital features include screeners, Trading Idea Generator, charting, portfolio analysis, and news.

9. E*Trade

E*Trade is an excellent platform for traders interested in diversifying their investment portfolio for retirement, charting, analyzing financial assets, and much more. All trading tools and investment options can be accessed on a desktop platform, the website, or mobile apps. Interestingly, all these versions have corresponding features, thus enabling easy shifting between mobile and the web. 

The platform supports different types of tradable assets like options, stocks, futures, currencies, etc. Additionally, you can customize most features, including trading tools, drawing tools, charting tools, screeners, and order types.to redefine your trading strategies. The technical charts automatically draw resistance and support lines for easy identification of technical patterns.

E*Trade's trading technology is just fabulous. It has an innovative order routing system that's configured to complete your trades while still limiting the market impact. Orders are first directed to an exchange or broker. Afterward, the orders are directed to another exchange to perform the ultimate execution. 

As an E*Trade user, you'll enjoy unlimited access to Morgan Stanley brokerage firm's research reports that cover over 3,500 stocks worldwide. In conclusion, E*Trade offers zero commissions on most trades and has varying fee options depending on the service offered.

10. MetaStock

This technical analysis platform aims to give traders in-depth analytical and charting tools. It has over 300 indicators and charts for analyzing various financial assets, including ETFs, bonds, Forex, and stocks. It has integrations with Refinitiv and Xenith to give users real-time data plus premium screening services.

Various technical analysis tools are at your disposal, including up to 80 different chart templates, indicators, and drawing tools. The best part is that you can customize the tools to display the only desired results. MetaStock offers over 150 technical indicators for easy determination of entry and exit points.

Don't worry if you don't know how to use the system or interpret a particular indicator, MetaStock's Expert Advisor will do this for you. It provides a commentary on the latest trends and plots trading signals. 

Sifting through thousands of data is made easy with the MetaStock "Explorer," while the "System Tester" offers excellent backtesting. Finally, MetaStock has both subscription and one-off fee plans.

Conclusion

The above platforms offer the best technical analysis tools you can rely on to analyze different financial assets and fine-tune your trading strategy. Some, like TradingView, TrendSpider, TradeStation, and MetaStock, have monthly/yearly subscription plans, while the rest have pay-per-service or one-off fees.

You should evaluate each platform's technical analysis and overall trading tools to make the right choice, notwithstanding the charges.